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The Stealthy Light

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The story of Jesus’ temptation in the Gospels offers a fascinating window into the dynamics of the Trinity and more specifically God the Son’s relationship to the other members of it. But it also gives us insight into the devil and the nature of evil.   At the onset of this story, we can see that Jesus does not ask us to live the kind of life that He  didn’t  live Himself. Christ asks us to follow Him, and this results in friction with the prevailing spiritual climate around us. This friction includes the possibilities of being allured by the culture of those who are only interested in following their definitions of what it means to be human apart from God's loving rule. Satan hates God’s rule at the core of his personality. As much as Jesus loves His Father's ways, the devil hates them with an equal intensity. We often idolize the rebels, but Satan  isn’t  opposing a fascist regime or a corrupt system, he is opposing a good Father. He is opposing the crucified ...
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Changing Directions

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It is easy to swerve off the road when conditions are bad. Even the most experienced driver can lose control when the elements are against them.   We often think we are headed the right way when suddenly a storm hits, and we second-guess our choices. The way forward seems impossible; a detour seems easier, or what if we just turned around instead? Our life journey with Jesus can seem like this. The way forward often has resistance; the Christian life is not easy. We think, “What if I just went back?” Yet to go back is a dead end; the only way is forward. We have been that way before, and there  isn’t  anything worth going back to.  It’s  just ashes breezing through our fingers compared with the reward ahead of us. The reward is Christ Himself, finally seen with all of our senses , no longer  veiled  and hidden. But the way backwards often seems like  a good idea . We can be walking forward and still thinking about life “back there.” We  essen...
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Clouds and Sun

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Cloudy days remove my strength. Though the rain replenishes the earth and the soil, the grey skies sap me dry.  However, when the sun breaks through and the clouds are pierced with light, I feel my strength return, at least this is what it feels like sometimes.    Life comes in stages, though we  aren’t  acting on  a stage . Our hearts, like the sky above, sometimes are grey with weariness. We need the light to breakthrough to feel alive again.  Life stages come quickly, often without  a warning . Age rolls over us like a giant wheel headed downhill. We are thinned out by this process like dough  under a pin roller. We cry to God for mercy and sometimes in His wisdom  He lets us be rolled, stretched  almost until  we break.  The skies seem dark and we feel alone. The grey clouds press against us like a hand  until we are flat. The grey and the stages—or  maybe these  are just the stages  of greying ? ...
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Into the Dark

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It is hard to see in the dark. Most people would agree with me about this. When there is no light to  see,  we  must  incor porate our other senses to get where we need to go:  touch, smell, etc.  As we grope in the dark, we hope to find the exit to where the light is.  However, the process of being unaware of where we are or how we are to get where we are going is truly frustrating and a little scary.    In many ways our interaction with God is like this. It is like  being in  a dark room where we cannot see the way forward unless we use our other se nses that are sharper in the absence of sight.  This other sense is like faith; we can put our fingers around God s o-to-speak , but it  is n’t  with our hands. Our interactions are  innately  spiritual;  there is no physical dimension to this sensing. God is spirit and not made of the same stuff that we are.  We feel God, but it is often like a cool ...
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The Anchor

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I remember the days of old;   I meditate on all that you have done;   I ponder the work of your hands.   I stretch out my hands to you; my  soul  thirsts for  you like a parched land.   ( Psalm   143:5-6 ESV ) When life is hard and the waves keep slamming into us, our anchor is in our history with God. Usually when the waves  hit, we tend to only see them and the destruction they are causing  all around us  and we forget that we  aren’t  alone.  When the pain is loud, our awareness of God can dim. This isn’t due to sin; it’s due to focus.  When we  hurt,  we are usually not foc using on God, we are focusing on the pain. When  we  were  children and  fell  and  tripped ,  scrap ping  our knees, we  d idn’t   think about our parents  who were walking next to us;   at  that moment   we  were  thinking about the cut  and...
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